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IKEA’s claims of treating customers and employees like family rings hollow for Marica Ricuttia, an unfairly fired mother of two who worked at the company’s Corsico, Italy, location.

Marica worked at Milan-area store for 17 years, and relied on the job to take care of her children, one seriously disabled.

Since taking care of her disabled child limited the hours she could work, she repeatedly asked IKEA to change her schedule, but instead of understanding Marica’s difficult family situation, IKEA fired her. The company did this despite an Italian law requiring special considerations for families with disabled children.

Marica and her coworkers are not taking this laying down. Her union, FILCAMS CGIL, has organized several worker demonstrations, gatherings, and solidarity messages at several Italian. Those actions culminated in a December 5 protest in front of Marica’s store.

During the demonstration, more than 70 percent of all store employees stopped working as a show of solidarity for her and her family. The union is demanding that Marica be reinstated and that the company find a suitable solution to balancing her familial obligations and her work hours.

FILCAMS CGIL has also taken legal action against IKEA and is awaiting a showing in court.

FICALMS CGIL is a member of UNI’s IKEA trade union alliance, and is calling on union activists from around the world to show solidarity and support in their struggle for justice for Marica.

UNI stands in solidarity with FILCAMS. We know this fight is bigger than one women’s story and that companies should take responsibility to finding suitable solutions to work-life balance concerns, especially in situations like that of Marica.